God in the Seasons

by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod

As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night. Genesis 8:22 NLT

Only two remained. 

As I sat on my old antique porch glider, I watched as two hummingbirds fought over the one feeder that hung just outside my den window. Just a few days before, I had cleaned all my feeders but only returned one to the backyard. And just a few weeks prior, a dozen hummingbirds had created a war zone in the back and side yards as they fought for nectar from the three feeders placed strategically around the yard. Now, everything was changing.

The next day would be the first day of the autumnal equinox. The leaves on our four crepe myrtle trees were already turning and arching to the ground. The blooms had disappeared. Our first cool snap had arrived, dropping nighttime temps into the 40s. I knew what would happen soon: the hummingbirds would leave. As they had migrated here, the cool temps would send them back to southern Florida or Texas, and, if not there, to Mexico or South America. This was the only thing about fall I didn’t enjoy. Everything else, I loved. It’s my favorite time of the year. 

I had only removed one of our feeders, but I knew in a few weeks I would need to remove all of them. Otherwise, a few hummers might hang around, get caught by the cold air, and perish before they made it back to their winter quarters. And I wanted them back next year. 

I couldn’t help but think of the promise God made to Noah thousands of years ago. A promise that came after He had sent the great flood to destroy everything on earth. A promise of change, along with the promise never to send another flood like the one Noah and his family had witnessed. Within the promise came a dual promise of change and consistency—two seemingly contradictory things. The seasons would consistently come, but within the seasons, change would happen. Planting and harvesting. Cold and hot. Seasons. 

Attributing the changing of the seasons merely to natural law causes us to miss a more important aspect: the sovereignty of God. Natural laws only work because God established them. And while He can operate outside of them—after all, He is God—He usually chooses to show His power through their consistency. The changing of the seasons being one way. 

I love the changing of the seasons—especially the change from summer to fall. But I’ve gone through many changes I didn’t care for. Changes that disrupted…changes that took me to different places—such as the one the hummingbirds undertake. People have left me as the hummingbirds will. They moved. I moved. They died. Death is the hardest change to endure, but the break-up of a family follows closely behind. 

Although the changes of life take us in many directions, those who follow Christ have one constant to anticipate: a new heaven and a new earth. All roads will one day come back together there. The changing will become changeless. I look forward to perfect atmospheric conditions, perfect relationships, perfect bodies, and perfect actions. But until then, I plan to enjoy…perhaps endure…the changes God sends my way. Will you? 

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God in the Seasons - encouragement from Martin Wiles, @LinesFromGod on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Martin Wiles is the founder of Love Lines from God (www.lovelinesfromgod.com) and serves as Managing Editor for Christian Devotions, Senior Editor for Inspire a Fire, and Proof Editor for Courier Publishing. He has authored six books and has been published in numerous publications. His most recent book, A Whisper in the Woods: Quiet Escapes in a Busy World, released in December 2019. He is a freelance editor, English teacher, author, and pastor.